Army Spc. Joseph W. Dimock II

Died July 10, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

21, of Wildwood, Ill.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.; died July 10 in Salerno, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat-related incident when an explosion occurred in an ammunition holding facility during an inventory.

Ranger lived his life to the fullest

The Associated Press

Spc. Joseph “Joey” Dimock II didn’t need to have a crazy time to have fun, friends said, but enjoyed simple pleasures such as his yellow car, eating crab legs on the beach and competing with his swim team.

“He lived a short life, but boy did he live it,” Dimock’s brother Louis said.

The 21-year-old Army Ranger from Wildwood, Ill., died July 10 in Salerno, Afghanistan, in a non-combat explosion at an ammunition holding facility during an inventory. He was assigned to Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia and had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“He was talented and resourceful,” Lt. Col. James Bartholomees said. “He selflessly gave until there was nothing left to give.”

Dimock had been active in youth groups and mission trips with Wildwood Presbyterian Church, where a group leader referred to him as “a boy’s boy and a man’s man.”

He was also an Eagle Scout remembered for his love of starting campfires, despite the time the bottom of his jeans caught fire.

He graduated from Warren Township High School in Gurnee, Ill., in 2007 and enlisted that year.

Dimock also is survived by his parents, Joseph and Ellen, and brother Michael.